We Need Quiet!

I am going to try and explain some Clark behavior that pushes us (his parents) up to and beyond our patience endurance level. He can’t read (except for a few words) but he wants to know what we will be reading in Sunday School. I never thought he would be able to find books in the scriptures but he has gotten pretty good. This Sunday we will be in Genesis 14 and he found it. Amazing! The problem is—he wants to talk about it and show it to us over and over. This type of behavior happens many times each day, every day. Remember perseveration from the February 9 post?! Knowing he perseverates helps explain why he keeps showing (or talking about) something but it doesn’t help us when we are in the study and want it quiet so Paul can work on his Sunday lesson and I can prepare for my Institute classes. When Clark tries showing me for the umpteenth time and can sense my patience has come to an end he calls me grumpy (and that is exactly how I am feeling at the moment even though I have managed to stay calm). Then he walks over to Paul. I can hear “Not right now Clark. We need quiet.” “Clark, no more. Stop! We will talk later.” The same things I had just said, and then from Clark, “Grumpy Old Man.” Meanwhile I can hear whooping and hollering from downstairs where Phil is watching The Price Is Right.